Pua lena

Description:

lena or Turmeric (Curcuma longa), a member of Zingiberaceae or Ginger family, has been widely used throughout Polynesia and around the world for thousands of years as food, dye, medicinal, religious and other purposes.In Hawaiian, pua lena literally means "flower or blossom of the turmeric (lena)." The flower or pua is yellow (lena), orange (alani) and green (mao), while the stem bracts, held higher on the plant, are greenish (anomaomao) or white (kea) and can be tinged with pink (kala). Closeup of flower:www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/20772764911/in/photostream/The early Polynesians brought lena to the Hawaiian Islands. Early Hawaiians used lena for its medicinal properties to help with earaches and sinus conditions. It was also used for a fragrant tea and to dye tapa (kapa) and other cloth.It is rarely seen in the wild nowadays, but it is once again gaining popularity in Traditional and Western in food and as an anti-inflammatory and grown commercially in Hawaii, though apparently somewhat localized. lena is rather easy to grow in home gardens in warm locations with some shade, rich soil and modest amounts of water. It tolerates high heat well.The yellow to bright orange thick roots or rhizomes goes dormant after it blooms, leaves completely die back, and it is then harvested for use.(And yeah, it's growing in a toilet tank. They are heavy and solid, making for great planters for semi-deep rooting plants with a hole already in the bottom. Recycle, my friends.)The words of a popular and beautiful Hawaiian mele (song) about pua lena begins:Pua lena, pua moe waleI ka nahele e moe neiKa ua noe makaliiE ala mai, hike maiI kou naniPua lena, pua lenaEnglish translation:lena blossom, blossom sleepingIn the forest, sleeping hereThe misty summer rainAwake and show nowYour beautylena blossom, lena blossom The rest of the words and cords can be found at islandmusicnetwork.com/sheet/pua-olena/